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Video Review: Bianchi Infinito CV Disc Bike

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Video Review: Bianchi Infinito CV Disc Bike

posted on
December 7, 2017

Bianchi’s Infinito CV Disc represents a high water mark for endurance road bikes. Fast and responsive, yet surprisingly comfortable, it’s a compelling candidate for the one-bike quiver for those seeking impressive power transfer mated to all-day ride worthiness.

There are few names in the bike industry that stir up my passion like Bianchi. When I was new to cycling, some of the first high-end road bikes I lusted after were the lugged steel, Celeste-green beauties ridden by my buddies. I’ve never owned one, they’ve always been slightly out of reach for one reason or another, and that elusiveness has definitely made my heart grow fonder.

A few years ago, I got to spend some time on the first-generation Infinito. That was before all-road or gravel bikes were a thing. Since then, the landscape (and the way we ride across it) has changed dramatically, turning the quest for a bike that’s a “quiver killer” into an obsession. And after a few months I realized the Infinito is about as close as I’ll ever get to the one-bike garage.

Bianchi imbued this frame with an interesting mix of carbon technology. The entire frame is constructed of the same carbon used in their Oltre and Specialissima, but it was the first in the line to mold a layer of their patented Countervail material in between the high-mod carbon layers. Countervail is a visco-elastic material, so it’s almost like having an elastomer from a suspension fork between the two rigid layers. The result is uncanny. The Infinito is as smooth, quiet, and comfortable as any gran fondo bike, but when you’re ready to rip some legs off, it responds like a thoroughbred race bike.

I mean it, when it was time to attack or close a gap, I never thought “man, this thing is sluggish”. I actually never thought anything at all. I just put my foot on the gas and the bike responded perfectly. And when the pavement got nasty, or ended, the Infinito took on a different persona- it’s almost like I flipped off the race bike switch and pushed the gravel bike button. Granted, you can only fit 28s, so there are options for fatter tires out there, but on most of the fire roads I ride (which are part of the infamous Belgian Waffle Ride) I never found myself wanting anything different. The Infinito was sure-footed and stable, and it didn’t beat me to death when the road got really choppy.

The Infinito CV Disc is the first road disc bike I’ve ridden, so I took multiple trips to one of the twistiest roads in SoCal- Palomar Mountain’s South Grade Road. It’s a half-hour drive from my front door, and has the same elevation gain as Alpe d’Huez, with more switchbacks. And the pavement’s pretty sketchy in parts, so it was a perfect testbed. I climbed and descended Palomar four times over the course of a few months, and on the last ride (because I’d learned the road) I really pushed it, going faster, braking later, and intentionally riding over the rough stuff.

The Infinito didn’t miss a step, and I’d say once you get used to the slightly slower steering it’s handling and performance are strikingly close to the five-thousand-dollar uberframes I’ve owned. And man, it’s just comfortable. I wanted to keep riding all day every time I clipped in.

I don’t know how they did it, but Bianchi really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with the Infinito. If you’re a hard-core roadie that likes to hit the occasional long stretch of fire road, look no further.

If you have questions about the Bianchi Infinito CV disc, please give us a call, or send an email to sales@competitivecyclist.com